1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally in the field of computer technology. More particularly, the present invention relates to data management.
2. Background Art
Methods and systems for receiving, storing, and performing operations on data have matured significantly in the past several decades as the art of computer systems has advanced. For example, conventional computerized database systems routinely receive, store, and provide large amounts of data in various formats suitable for many purposes. Such purposes include, but are not limited to, electronic document handling, web page serving, Internet data services, and backup data storage. Several formats conventionally used for various types of data storage conform to the XML (“Extensible Markup Language”) specification. These XML formats have various advantages. For example, data stored in an XML format is typically human readable, platform independent, and well-suited for document storage. Additionally, data stored in formats such as XML formats can be utilized by an enterprise in many ways.
Conventional methods and systems for database applications and other forms of data storage using formats such as XML formats typically suffer from several disadvantages. For example, in an enterprise that has a large collection of data in various formats in one or more databases, and that furthermore has a large collection of client services consuming the data, data management problems can become intractable. Such an enterprise may be required to stop operating various client or server services to allow conversion of data between various formats. Additionally, such an enterprise may experience operational slowdowns when performing multiple steps to complete data receptions, storage, and provision tasks contemporaneously.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by offering an improved method and system for managing data files and schemas.